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Modern technologies changing oil spill response

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Lessons learned during the pandemic here to stay

This image shows how closely oil spill responders must work during some drills and exercises. The responders in the photos are 2-3 feet apart, which was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Responders often work in close proximity during oil spill response drills. Pandemic precautions restricted many of these activities. In this photo, responders guide oil spill boom off of the response vessel Valdez Star as a distant fishing vessel tows the boom into position.

The Council’s newest annual report on drills and exercises highlights lessons learned during the pandemic and recent changes due to new technologies.

Large drills continue to take advantage of video-conferencing platforms. Meetings are held online. Documents and other data are shared through online collaboration tools.

“While the Council supports responders having as much local knowledge as possible, modern communication technologies mean some positions in the response can fully function from a remote location such as Anchorage,” says Roy Robertson, drill monitor for the Council, and author of the report.

Online learning during fishing vessel training

Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System, or SERVS, conducts annual training for crews of local fishing vessels, who are contracted to respond in case of a spill. Before the pandemic, part of the training was held in a classroom, part was hands-on experience with equipment on dry land, and finally, crews would practice deploying equipment on the water.

Since the pandemic, the classroom sessions have been held online.

Hands-on equipment training increased in 2023

Technology can’t take care of everything. Responders still need to know how to set up and use oil spill boom, run skimmers, and communicate effectively during an emergency.

Unfortunately, crew members were not able to safely work with equipment over the last few years due to pandemic precautions. Restrictions hit two specific tactics particularly hard: nearshore response and sensitive area protection.

“Nearshore response” is a set of maneuvers used by fishing vessels to intercept the leading edge of an oil spill as it approaches a shoreline. These tactics are designed to redirect oil and collect it.

“Sensitive area protection” also happens near a shoreline. The difference is that these tactics are designed for a specific location such as a fish hatchery, cultural site, or wildlife congregation area. These tactics are planned out in advance and are designed to keep oil from contaminating the location.

Both of these tactics involve crew members being close together, so they were not regularly practiced from 2020-2022. In 2023, however, these exercises were held regularly.

Other oil spill response highlights from the report

New oil spill response barges: Over the past few years, Alyeska and the Prince William Sound shippers have been replacing oil spill response barges. These barges are stocked with response equipment and have large cargo tanks for storing collected oil. Some of the barges were up to 40 years old. The latest new barge is a replacement for the Allison Creek, which arrived in Prince William Sound in April. Read more about the Allison Creek from Alyeska. The new barges are almost identical, so training on one vessel is applicable to all.

Most likely scenario for spill from terminal: Three of five exercises at the Valdez Marine Terminal involved an area called “Drainage 58.” This is considered the most likely route that a large oil spill from the East Tank Farm would flow downhill toward Port Valdez.

Recommendations for improvement

While many of the drills and exercises went smoothly, observers did find room for improvement. Find more details in the full report: 2023 Annual Drill Monitoring Report

Report archive

Previous annual drill reports (2002-present) are available on the Preparedness Monitoring page.

Volunteer brings oceans of experience to Council committee

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Gordon Terpening stands on a fishing boat, holding up a large salmon.
After retiring from piloting, Terpening spent a few years commercial fishing out of Bristol Bay with his son.

A teenage Gordon Terpening grew up watching ships navigating in and out of San Francisco Bay, and knew early on exactly what he wanted to do after high school.

“Once I heard about what a ship’s pilot did, I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”

After graduating from the California Maritime Academy with a Bachelor’s in Nautical Science, Terpening realized these ambitions and went to sea. His first job, towing lumber out of Coos Bay, Oregon, was just the beginning. He’s been involved in the maritime industry in one way or another ever since. Turns out he was one of the lucky humans who get to love their life’s work.

“I’m a sea going guy,” he says. The combination of peaceful and exciting fit him perfectly.

“Going to sea is basically hours and hours of boredom broken up by moments of sheer terror.”

Over the years, Terpening has piloted vessels around the U.S. and the world. It’s not just the locations that varied, it’s the type of work. He’s worked on a seagoing dredge doing underwater excavation, provided ocean transportation for the Navy as a civilian in the Military Sealift Command, on board tankers in the Far East, hauled jet fuel around the world, and supplied and towed oil rigs near Trinidad and Tobago.

“Generally, it was always so rough off the east coast of Trinidad,” Terpening says. “The trade winds are blowing from the east and the current from South America is flowing north, so you’re always in the trough.”

“This was before the Amoco Cadiz in France and before the Brayer in Shetland, and so the big spills were kind of yet to come.”

These experiences fine-tuned his skills at handling boats and trained him well for his years as a vessel pilot in Alaska.
Terpening says piloting in some other parts of the world, in and out of the same port day after day, can seem dull in comparison.

“When you’re a pilot in southwestern Alaska, all the ports are all different, and they all have their own problems,” he says. “And you get to see the wildest parts of Alaska. I loved it.”

Terpening describes how he analyzed the approach to each port, evaluating the forces such as wind, waves, and propulsion that are acting on the ship.

“It’s kind of like constantly drawing vector diagrams in your head,” he says. “That’s what I see when I’m docking a ship. It’s all just math.”

Terpening says he’s happy to be able to use these varied experiences to contribute to the work of the Council’s Port Operation and Vessel Traffic System Committee. He thinks that the Council’s independent oversight, as mandated by the U.S. Congress, makes a big difference.

“I try to tell other people about how amazing I think this committee is,” Terpening says. He pointed out a Council report on “messenger lines” as an example.

Passing a messenger line is the first step in setting up a tow line between a tug and a tanker in distress. The lighter weight messenger line helps responders connect the heavy tow lines. In 2020, the Council studied the best methods and tools for passing these lines between vessels. Little research had been done on the topic before.

“I mean that is amazing stuff that nobody would do unless you had the funding and the wherewithal of a committee like ours.”

Messenger line study: In 2020, the Council released a study evaluating methods of establishing tow lines between an escort tug and a tanker in distress. This study demonstrates the importance of the Council’s independent research. Learn more: VIDEO: Study of line-throwing technology demonstrates importance of the Council’s independent research

Gordon Terpening is a member of the Council’s Port Operations and Vessel Traffic Systems Committee. The committee monitors port and tanker operations in Prince William Sound.

 

Council shoring up its crew: two promotions and a new hire

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Two long-time Alaskans on the Council’s staff are moving up the ranks and a former Valdez resident is returning to join the Council’s staff.

In June, staff member Hans Odegard was promoted to the position of director of administration. Odegard was first hired as a project manager assistant in 2019. He was later promoted to information technology coordinator. Odegard replaced KJ Crawford, who resigned in January.

Odegard grew up in Eagle River and attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration.

Jaina Willahan, the Council’s newest project manager assistant, was originally hired as the administrative assistant in 2021. In the intervening time she has also served as office coordinator in Anchorage.

A lifelong Alaskan, Willahan attended the University of Alaska Anchorage.

In early June, Dr. John Guthrie joined the Council to manage projects related to maritime operations. Dr. Guthrie grew up in Valdez and previously worked with Stan Stephens’ Cruises for 10 years, six of those as a captain. He holds a doctorate in physical oceanography and most recently was a senior research scientist at the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Dr. Guthrie is replacing Alan Sorum, who has been the maritime operations project manager for the past 13 years.

Onboard ballast water systems helping reduce spread of invasive species

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Systems that treat tanker ballast water before release are a critical step in preventing damage from invasive species

Image of European green crab with graphic showing how to identify a green crab. The image demonstrates that the crab can be identified by counting the spines and bumps along the front edge of the shell. There are three rostral bumps in the middle, with one eye bump on the outside of the rostral bumps, followed by five spine bumps on each side next to each eye.
Invasive European green crab, or Carcinus maenus, were first spotted in Southeast Alaska in 2022. These invaders can be identified by counting the spines and bumps along the front edge of the carapace (shell). There are three rostral bumps in the middle, with one eye bump on the outside of the rostral bumps, followed by five spine bumps on each side next to each eye. The carapace is up to 10 cm/3.5 inches from front to back and side to side. More at www.pwsrcac.org/greencrab

In recent years, companies that transport oil through Prince William Sound have been installing systems to treat the seawater their ships take on as ballast.

Ships pick up ballast water after unloading cargo to help stabilize the vessel during travel. The problem is that larvae and other plankton in the ocean water are also taken on board, where they can easily catch a ride in tanker ballast water to a new port.

Of particular concern to our region is the European green crab, one of the most widespread invaders on the planet. Where they become established, invasive green crab can decimate local species and habitats. Their larvae are known to travel in the ballast water of tankers, and studies have shown that they can survive in climates found in Prince William Sound.

Until recently, the most common method to reduce risk of transporting invasive species was to exchange ballast water in the open ocean. Mid-trip, the water would be pumped out of the hold and refilled with water from the open ocean. The theory is that fewer invasive species live in the open ocean and those that do are less likely to survive in a shoreline environment. However, larvae of invasive species can remain in sediments in the tank bottom. In addition, tankers that traveled between Alaska and West Coast refineries weren’t required to exchange ballast water until new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency went into effect in late 2008. Some would exchange ballast water anyway, but if weather or sea conditions were dangerous, the exchange might not happen.

This graphic shows the layout of the hold of a double-hulled oil tankers. The double hulls create a void space that is used for holding ballast water for stability when the tanker is empty.
Ballast water is ocean water pumped into the belly of a ship. This extra weight helps maintain stability while underway. Ballast water is usually carried in the space between the outer hull of the tanker and the inner cargo holds, and does not come in contact with the oil.

In 2018, a federal law known as the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, or VIDA, was passed into law to streamline regulations for discharges from commercial vessels such as oil tankers. Among other changes, VIDA set a national management standard for vessels to meet. The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard are continuing to finalize the rules and regulations for compliance with VIDA.

Meanwhile, tankers in Prince William Sound have already installed state of the art onboard systems to treat ballast water before its released.

These systems are designed to reduce the risk of introducing organisms from ballast water. Methods include filtration, chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, electrolysis, or a combination of these methods.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s National Ballast Information Clearinghouse hosts an online database with information about ballast water treatment and release: nbic.si.edu/database

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